President Assad agrees to surrender Syria's chemical weapons

Interview set to be broadcast on Russian television later also refutes move comes due to threat of US attack

President Bashar Assad's regime could possibly have the world's largest stockpile of chemical weapons

Syrian President Bashar Assad says his government has agreed to
surrender its chemical weapons in response to Russia's initiative.

Mr Assad has told Russia’s
state Rossiya 24 news channel in an interview set to be broadcast later “Syria is transferring chemical weapons under
international control because of Russia.”

It refutes any potential claims the move comes due to the US
threat of attack.

US Secretary of State John Kerry and a team of US experts have
arrived in Geneva to test the seriousness of the
Russian proposal to secure Syria’s
chemical weapons.

Mr Kerry will prod Moscow to put
forward a credible and verifiable plan to inventory, quarantine and destroy Syria’s chemical weapons stocks as well as
hoping an acceptable agreement can be met for a binding new UN Security Council
resolution that would hold Syria
accountable for using chemical weapons.

However, Russia
has long opposed UN action on Syria,
vetoed three earlier resolutions, blocked numerous, less severe condemnations
and has not indicated it is willing to go along with one now.

There will be at least two days of meetings in order to emerge
with an outline of how some 1,000 tons of chemical weapons stocks and precursor
materials as well as potential delivery systems can be safely inventoried and
isolated under international control in an active war zone before being
destroyed.

Officials with Mr Kerry said they would be looking for a rapid
agreement on principles for the process with Russia, including a demand for a
speedy Syrian accounting of their stockpiles.

One official said the task is “doable but difficult and
complicated” with the US
looking for signs of Russian seriousness and thinks it will know in a
relatively short time if the Russians are trying to stall.

In an opinion piece published in The New York Times, Russian
President Vladimir Putin wrote, “The United States, Russia and all members of the
international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s
willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for
subsequent destruction.”

Mr Putin urged the US
not to launch a military strike on Syria,
saying, “It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in
foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States.”